Our School Programs

Spuyten Duyvil Preschool offers a variety of programs to meet the needs of parents and families in our community. Financial aid is available for eligible families.

If your child was born in 2014, please check this site again in the fall for September 2018 UPK admission. If you will be joining us in September and have not yet visited Spuyten Duyvil Preschool or if you plan to apply for 2018 admission, you are invited to see our wonderful school! Be our guest for an open house or a guided tour.

Our school is open from 7:30 am – 6:00 pm. Families may contract privately for additional time after these program hours. There are some restrictions for early dropoff. Contact the director if you need more information.

Private Programs for Threes and Fours

The nursery is open to children turning 3 by December 31. The youngest child may start at 2 years, 9 months. Admission is in September or as space becomes available during the year. See the Nursery Application for information about the process.

The AM Nursery program runs 9:00 am – noon. The PM Nursery program runs 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm. Children may attend two days each week (Tuesday and Thursday), three days each week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) or all five days.

Lunch Bunch and Extended Time

AM Nursery children may stay until 2:30 pm as part of the Lunch Bunch program. This private program also offers an early dropoff from 7:30 am – 9:00 am and Extended Time until 6:00 pm. PM Nursery children can add Lunch Bunch (12 – 1:00pm) to their afternoon session and/or Extended Time up to 6:00 pm.

Please contact the Director if you need help calculating tuition rates for your particular schedule.

Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) for Fours

UPK is open to all residents of New York City. Children must turn 4 by Dec. 31; the youngest children can be 3 years 9 months old when they begin in September. All UPK sessions are covered by funding from the NYC Department of Education; there is no fee to families. We now have two full day UPK sessions, each running 6 hours 20 minutes; the program day will be approximately 8:40 am – 3:00 pm. Early Dropoff and Extended Time is available as a private add-on for UPK children.

Expanded Curriculum

In addition to the fully rounded, active program provided in the classrooms each day, our daily curriculum has been further expanded to enrich your child's well-balanced preschool experience:

Music Classes

We provide a 30- to 40-minute music class each week in our studio. The classes are led by an experienced early childhood teacher with a rich music background. The sessions are arranged to follow an age appropriate curriculum that emphasizes children's natural rhythm and love of music to form a strong foundation of music concepts.

Music teacher Janet Winston has added group movement the curriculum, further enhancing the musical experience for each child.

Chess

All children receive a weekly class in playing chess. Spuyten Duyvil works with a unique program developed by Chess@3. Children work with instructor Alex Thompson in half-class groups for a half hour each. Classroom teachers play and learn alongside the children.

More information about this program and all the cognitive benefits is available at the Chess@3 website.

Nature Studies

Nancy Ortiz-Surun is a co-founder of the FINCA farm in the South Bronx. She brings her expertise in growing our own food, composting and exploring the natural environment to our children weekly all school year. Nature is still active through the winter and our children learn this firsthand.

Nancy works with small groups of children exploring and maintaining the farm and gardens in both yards. As a former early childhood teacher herself she is able to connect the real-world information and work to the growing minds of our youngsters.

These charges are annual rates for the 10 months of a full school year and, unless otherwise noted, for 5 days each week. To determine what the monthly cost would be for your particular schedule, divide the listed fees by 10 and add up the different pieces chosen to cover your child's day. For coverage of less than 5 days per week, the rates will be prorated. Feel free to contact the Director for more information as needed. Tuition charges are only for private or extended programs. There is no tuition fee for the UPK program.